It is advantageous for an automated vehicle to be able to distinguish the composition or type of surface upon which the automated vehicle is traveling. For example, if the travel-path of the automated vehicle is upon snow or gravel, the dynamic behavior of the automated vehicle is different from the dynamic behavior when traveling on pavement, e.g. concrete or asphalt. Being able to distinguish pavement from gravel or grass is also useful to determine the relative location of the edge of a paved roadway. What is needed is a system that is able to distinguish or identify various types of ground surface classifications such as concrete, asphalt, gravel, dirt, grass, snow, and the like.